Electromagnetic lighter with an apertured metal casing

ABSTRACT

A pocket lighter having a metal housing including wide and narrow opposite sidewalls, and an electromagnetic igniter surrounded by said housing and including an electromagentic coil closely fitting in said housing. An aperture in each of the wide opposite sidewalls, said apertures being adjacent and larger than the electromagnetic coil to restrain the occurance of a condenser effect, and an electrically insulating protective cover plate closing each of said apertures.

o I Unlted States Patent 1191 1111 3,760,231 I Schindler 1 Sept. 18, 1973 [54] ELECTROMAGNETIC LIGHTER WITH AN 3,351,736 11/1967 Jacobson 219/267 APERTURED METAL CASING 5 l2/1950 1 3,4|9,704 l2/l968 [75] Inventor: Hans Schindler, Engelsbach, 3,424,950 1/1969 Germany 3,427,117 2/1969 9 [73] Assignee: Braun A.G., Frankfurt/Main, 7] Steuemagel 43mm Germany FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 626,494 7/1949 Great Britain 219/268 [22] 1972 1,203,030 7/1959 France 219/268 [21] Appl. No.: 222,940 a Primary ExaminerVolodymyr Y. Mayewsky [30] Foreign Application Priority Data AuomeyhEmest F"Marmorek 4 .7 Feb 28, 197] Germany P 21 2 295 [5 1 ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl 317/92, 219/268, 317/81, A pocket lighter having a metal housing including wide 317/95, 336/69 and narrow opposite sidewalls, and an electromagnetic [51] Int. Cl. F23q 13/02 igni r rr n by said housing and including an [58] Field of Search 317/79, 81, 92, 93, el r m gen i coil closely fitting in said housing. An

317/242; 219/267, 268; 431/130, 255; aperture in each of the wide opposite sidewalls, said ap- 3 36/69, 90 ertures being adjacent and larger than the electromagnetic coil to restrain the occurance of a condenser ef- [56] References Cit d V feet, and an electrically insulating protective cover UNITED STATES PATENTS plate closing each of said apertures.

3,277,271 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 10/1966 Hunt 219/268 PATENTEDSEH 8 I975 ELECTROMAGNETIC LIGHTER WITH AN APERTURED METAL CASING The invention relates to lighters, and relates more particularly to small lighters, known as pocket lighters, that have a housing that for the major part is composed of metal, and furthermore includes an igniter that comprises a coil.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Reference is had to my two applications entitled Magnetic Igniter filed by me on or about the filing date of the instant application and assigned to the assignee of recordof the instant U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 220,817, filed on Jan. 26, l972,and Ser. No. 22,954, filed on Feb. 2, 1972.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION lgniters for lighters which include an electric coil are known. There exist, for instance, magnetic igniters for lighters that have cylindrical coils, reference being had, for example, to the U.S. Pat. to Halm, No. 3,424,950, dated Jan. 28, 1969; and magnetic igniters for lighters that are also known that have a coil wound in accordance with a pilgrim step operation, reference being had, for example, to the pending U.S. Pat. application of Claus-Christian Cobarg and Gerhard Steuernagel, Ser. No. 790,058, filed Jan. 9, 1969, now abandoned, and its continuation U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 102,2l8, filed Dec. 28, 1970.

The pilgrim step wound coils have much smaller external dimensions than cylindrically .wound coils, so that magnetic igniters with pilgrim step wound coils at comparable output have much smaller volume. Pilgrim step wound coils for the instant purpose may have a length of less than three-fourths in. and a width smaller than seven-sixteenths in.

As previously indicated, magnetic igniters are particularly suitable, due to their small dimensions, for use in pocket lighters. As an example of a pocket lighter, reference is had to Design Patent No. D2l7,496 of Dieter Rams, dated May 5, 1970. As a further example, dimensions of such a pocket lighter may include a length of about 2 It in., a width of about 1 A in., and a thickness of about one-half in.

In such a pocket lighter, where a magnetic lighter is placed within a metallic housing, the coil of the igniter forms with the housing a condenser, the capacity of which depends onthe distance between the coil and the housing. The capacity is inversely proportional to the distance between the coil and the housing, so that an increase of said distance would lower the capacity. The larger that capacity is, however, the greater the losses of energy for the coil and hence for the output of the igniter. It is therefore desirable to have a large distance between the coil and the housing, in order to keep the losses at a minimum.

While it is possible to increase the distance between the coil and the housing to reduce the capacity, this would bring about the drawback of increased dimensions of the lighter housing. Increasing the lighter dimensions, however, render the pocket lighterfunwieldy, and probably useless as a pocket lighter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly among the principl objects of the invention to avoid the aforesaid drawbacks of increased capacity or increased dimensions in lighters with magnetic igniters, particularly in pocket lighters of that type.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a lighter with a magnetic igniter that has a metal housing of sufficiently small dimensions to qualify as a pocket lighter, and yet to have a low capacity with the ignition coil and hence a high ignition output.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a pocket lighter that has small dimensions as indicated in the foregoing,'and yet is reliable in operation and simple to maintain in good working condition.

Further obects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following specification and in part will be obvious therefrom without being specifically referred to, the same being realized and attained as pointed out in the claims hereof.

Broadly speaking, the instant invention provides for a pocket lighter with a magnetic igniter including a coil that has a metal housing which surrounds the igniter and includes a large metal portion that, however, defines near the place of the coil an aperture or apertures, and an insulating cover is, or covers are, provided for the aperture or apertures.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the aperture or apertures are formed in the wide side walls of the lighter.

The instant invention offers the advantage of such a pocket lighter with small dimensions substantially free from capacitor-generated losses of magnetic ignition output losses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the nature and object of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a lighter in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary additional view, similar to FIG. 2 but embodying a modification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In carrying the invention into effect in the embodiments which have been selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings and for description in the specification, and referring now particularly to FIG. 1, there is provided a housing 1 for the pocket lighter. An operating mechanism 2 for the igniter is provided and the igniterincludes an electrical coil 5.

The actuating mechanism of the lighter illustrated does not form a part of the instant invention. Reference is had to U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,793, dated Oct. 5, 1971, in which applicant is one of the joint inventors; and to U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,736, dated Oct. 12,1971.

The housing 1 for its major portion is composed of metal. The housing 1, however, defines one or more apertures 4 and 8, respectively, facing the coil .5 of the igniter, and an insulating cover, such as an insulating plate 3 is provided for each of the apertures 4,8.

The material of the insulating plate may be synthetic plastic material, or glass or ceramics or the like.

The coil 5 is so arranged in the housing 1 that its external dimensions almost coincide with the internal dimensions of the housing 1. The wide side walls of the housing 1 are indicated at 6 and 7. 9 and 10 designate parts of the magnetic portion of the igniter.

If it is desired to bring the wide side walls 306 and 307 of the housing 301 (FIG. 3) even closer'together than shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this can be accomplished in a manner shown in FIG. 3, in which the windings of the coil 305 may project into the apertures 304 and 308.

Certain of the advantages of the invention have already been herein referred to. It may be useful, however, to allude, particularly at this point, to the twin advantages of conservation of ignition energy and at the same time providing the pocket lighter with small dimensions.

I wish it to be understood that l donot desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. A pocket lighter having a metal housing including wide and narrow opposite sidewalls, an electromagnetic igniter surrounded by said housing and including an electromagnetic coil closely fitting in said housing, said metal housing having an aperture in each of said wide opposite sidewalls, said apertures being adjacent and larger than said electromagnetic coil to restrain the occurance of a condenser efiect, and an electrically insulating protective cover plate closing each of said apertures.

2. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of synthetic plastic material.

3. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of glass.

4. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of ceramic material.

5. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 7, said apertures defining opposite spaces, said coil extending into said spaces, said plates being disposed outside said spaces. 

1. A pocket lighter having a metal housing including wide and narrow opposite sidewalls, an electromagnetic igniter surrounded by said housing and including an electromagnetic coil closely fitting in said housing, said metal housing having an aperture in each of said wide opposite sidewalls, said apertures being adjacent and larger than said electromagnetic coil to restrain the occurance of a condenser effect, and an electrically insulating protective cover plate closing each of said apertures.
 2. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of synthetic plastic material.
 3. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of glass.
 4. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 3, said insulating plate being composed of ceramic material.
 5. A pocket lighter, as claimed in claim 7, said apertures defining opposite spaces, said coil extending into said spaces, said plates being disposed outside said spaces. 